RR02

While reading John Haskett's Design: A Short Introduction I liked his interpretation of design as being an evolution of invention or nature, layering improvement in efficiency or aesthetics from each generation. The coolest concept was his idea of the origins of design and it's accidental adaptation, as man's hand served as the ultimate tool, it was bettered, made jobs once done by them easier and more efficient. I find this interesting as almost all work done by man both in past as well as present is somehow derived from adaptations and designs built off the hand, such as using this computer: it is a replacement of typewriters, which succeeded handwriting, wall paintings all the way to the first time someone drew a symbol in the dirt with their finger. It is from this basis and idolization of the hand's design that we even strive to make things such as the growing field of robotics to be as anthropomorphic as possible. I also found how designs' perceptions change over time such as the VW Beatle being a Nazi Germany Propaganda machine to the lovable and popular selling Bug of modern day. Likewise I found how people adapt ideas and concepts into different functions (a product was made to do blank, but after experimenting with it, it becomes more versatile) over time. It had never occurred to me but the implications of differing cultures also has a lot to do with design and function; such as the japanese toothpick and it removable end to allow it's tip to not touch a table, this is due to the cultural standards/precedent with chopsticks. Another interesting aspect of design is how it can be regionally influenced, such as Coca-Cola having to change it's name in China to avoid a poor translation. This reminds me of the refrigerator brand talked about in class that attempted to sell their brand across all of europe, but ended up having over 120 designs due to the many different dietary habits of each region and country.